Thursday, 29 March 2012

In today’s radio episode of Dad’s Army entitled Fallen Idol originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 1975, Captain Mainwaring gets lead astray by fellow officers during a weekend of platoon exercises.

Dad’s Army is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 08:30 Hrs, 12:30 Hrs and 19:30 Hrs and available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Sorting through our Monkees CD's last week I found this little gem tucked away in our Listen To the Band box set.

I'm suspecting its an item Rachel and I picked up on ebay or at a comic fair several years ago.

Its the second edition of The Monkees published by Dell Comics published for May 1967 and features a fabulous photo of the pre-fab four with a floral guitar on the cover.

The zany caricatured humour of The Monkees TV series worked just as well on the printed page as it did on television.

For instance the boys could find themselves unwittingly involved with a spy ring, Davy Jones could fall in love (again!) and scenarios changed from one page to the next at the drop of Mike Nesmith's hat (which seems to be red in the cartoon version for some peculiar reason!).

The stories featured in this edition (priced at 12C) include Waiter! There's A Spy In My Soup and Snow White and The Four Monkees..

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

It's funny how music goes through your mind and sets you on several trains of thought.

The first track I heard this morning when I kicked my iPod into a random play list was The Monkees Pleasant Valley Sunday. I then got to thinking about songs featuring other days of the week.

The Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday

Mama's And The Papa's - Monday Monday

Rolling Stones - Ruby Tuesday

Lisa Loeb - Waiting For Wednesday

The Easybeats - Friday On My Mind

Elton John - Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting

I struggled to rack my mind for a song about Thursday (though I'm sure there are many) but then when I checked out my Twitter account I found I had a new musical follower (always cool).

Musician Eric Bay has a pretty cool website and impressed me by his humour filled videos about his music and film work I thought I'd follow him back. I then received a message from Eric to download his track "I Hate Thursday's", a brilliant piano pop melody with a vocal style reminiscent of Al Stewart. Guess I found my Thursday song!

Thursday, 22 March 2012

There’s more money trouble in today’s episode of Dad’s Army when Jones misplaces £500 he has raised for a servicemens canteen. When Did You Last See Your Money? was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1975.

Dad’s Army is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 08:30 Hrs, 12:30 Hrs and 19:30 Hrs and available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Several versions of The Best Of The Monkees album (including theoriginal Re-Focus cover)

Amazing to think that when I first got into buying albums around 1983, I quickly gravitated towards Woolworths budget price spinning display stands. Been a big fan of 1960s music, I was drawn towards EMI's Music For Pleasure label which by then had gained a niche of compilations by 1950s/1960s singers and bands on both record and cassette.

For a bargain price of £1.99 (rising to £2.25 around 1983) it was easy to bag decent compilation albums from The Beatles, Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and The Mamas and The Papas among others.

1970s Sounds Superb release ofThe Best Of The Monkees

One such band that was a constant popular seller were The Monkees whose singular MFP release The Best Of The Monkees was reissued on several occasions.

The 11 track compilation kept The Monkees presence firmly in the UK high street record shops during the late 70s/early 80s as the bands original back catalogue of RCA Victor albums fell under the deletion axe. The Best of The Monkees consisted of a sprinkling of hits and album tracks including the obligatory Monkees Theme.

The compilation served as an ideal introduction to the band and an overview of their musical output between 1966 and 1969. It was also an instant attraction to new generations of fans that had caught episodes of the TV series, which at the time were still regularly repeated on BBC1.

Thecompilation started life briefly on Bell Records titled as Re-Focus in 1972, before been repackaged a few years later as The Best Of The Monkees in the UK on Music For Pleasure¹s offspring label Sounds Superb.

It seems this particular compilation proved its worth flying off high street store shelves as it was reissued in several other countries with different sleeve artwork but retaining the same track listing. A quick Google brings up several variations of the cover art - a few of which I've featured here. (If you have a variation not featured please let me know and send me an image).

The original Re-Focus sleeve featured an early publicity shot of Micky, Davy, Peter and Mike superimposed onto a camera lens while the Sounds Superb release included a collage of images from the TV series.

Arista used the same track list fortheir Monkees Greatest Hits release in 1976

Further to this, Arista records released the same compilation in 1976 as The Monkees Greatest Hits, featuring a group shot of the boys set against an orange-red background.

The Arista release ultimately spearheaded three further compilations (one from Arista and two from Rhino Records including a picture

disc).

Music For Pleasure refreshed their Sounds Superb version around 1981 with a publicity shot of the boys from the TV series set against a blue wash background giving the album a modernistic feel. At the same time it was released on cassette.

MFP's 1980's reissue of TheBest Of The Monkees - the veryversion I bought in 1983!

Looking at it now, the release seems sparse compared to later CD compilations only featuring 30 minutes worth of music and 11 tracks. This didn't matter at the time as I loved the album and played it to death.

As this was the first Monkees album I bought I've recently come to ponder this compilation again.

It still resides in my record box even though Rachel and myself have since gone on to purchase several Monkees compilations and most of the original albums.

For fun, I compiled the Re-Focus / Best Of The Monkees / Monkees Greatest Hits playlist on my iPod and gave it a listen to re evaluate what I liked so much about it at the time.

The release featured a cross range of the Monkees styles including examples of rock (I'm Not Your Stepping Stone, She), pure pop (Last Train To Clarksville, PleasantValley Sunday), country rock (Listen To The Band) and ballads (I Wanna Be Free, Daydream Believer, Shades Of Gray).

An overseas version ofThe Best Of The Monkees

At 30 minutes, The Best of The Monkees served as a perfect sampler for the bands music. It also served a function for at least a decade when Monkees compilations were not as frequent as they are now, giving fans an instant starting point of acquiring several of The Monkees songs at a bargain price before seeking further moments of Monkee music mayhem.

Kodacrome are a fabulous fusion of three individual talents consisting of Elissa Pociask, Ryan Casey and Phil DaRosa currently emerging from the San Francisco music scene.

Perla fuses a cool mix of soundscape electronica with Elissa's breathy lyrics and you can find out more about the band (as well as claim a free Mp3) by visiting their website. In the meantime check out the band in action in the above video!

Davy Jones Remembered

I was really saddened to hear of the passing of Monkees singer Davy Jones earlier this month. I have been a fan of The Monkees since childhood and remember watching constant reruns of The Monkees TV series throughout the 1970s and 80s on the BBC.

My big Monkees memory has to be catching Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike live at Cardiff CIA on their 30th anniversary tour back in the 90s with Rachel.

Read my mini-tribute to Davy on Retrospace and look out for more Monkees posts in coming weeks.

Elsie Says Time To Go With Interactive Video

Here's a different take on pop videos. Hot on the heels of her track The Assassin, Elsie has released an interactive pop video to accompany her track Time To Go.

Subtitled How To Handle A Sex Pest, the YouTube based video sees Elsie adopt several methods of dispatching unwanted attention.

Comical and ingenious, this is well worth checking out!

Big Brother and The Holding Company - New Live Album

As much as I love the music of the 1960s I still find it refreshing to make new discoveries from this era. One artist I have to confess I've never listened to much until recent times is Janis Joplin so I've been quite excited to hear two new Joplin related releases.

Big Brother and The Holding Company Live At The Carousel Ballroom captures Janis Joplin with all her electrifying presence only weeks before embarking on a solo career in June 1968.

Friday, 16 March 2012

Harlech Television or HTV was the Independent Television franchise that served Wales and the West of England between 20 May 1968 and 27 October 1992.

Ceri Garner-Jones who kindly sent the above image recalls : " No doubt I picked this up at a studios open day or at an exhibition back in the 80s!"

Amongst HTV's most famous productions were Wycliffe, Robin Of Sherwood and Rolf's Cartoon Club. The stations logo was instantly recognisable throughout Great Britain appearing at the beginning and end of its TV productions and bearing more than a passing resemblance to a Television aerial.

In Episode 13 of It Sticks Out Half A Mile, Pike and Hodges are in search of the piers hidden booty with the help of a clarevoyant. John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender and Bill Pertwee star alongside Betty Marsden in a programme originally aired on BBC Radio 2 in 1984.

It Sticks out Half a Mile is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 17:00 Hrs and repeated again tomorrow morning at 05:00 Hrs. It is also available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Today's sketch is a favourite animated character. To be honest I could have picked any of many but I chose to go current with this one and picked a favourite of mine and the children - Spongebob Squarepants.

I have to be grateful to Spongebob in many ways - he settles many arguments as to what to have on the box at teatime mainly because the children all like him and I think hes quite funny too!

Sunday, 11 March 2012

Today's sketch is of a favourite book character. The instruction also said (not a movie), though i think its hard these days to even find a book that isnt been made into a movie even if its a classic.

However, although Wuthering Heights has been made into a film on several occasions I rarely consider few of the big screen adaptations to be a patch on the Emily Bronte book. So I chose Heathcliffe, the big brooding surly lead who you can love and hate at the turn of a page.

Friday, 9 March 2012

Here's an image I took of the giant head at the rear of Newport Riverfront a few weeks ago. I touched the image up in Photoshop to give it a painted look - though the real attempt would take me hours to achieve.

I over ambitiously perhaps attempted to do a rough sketch of Tenby as my favourite place. Afterwards I thought I could have adopted a much more simplified approach, though on second look I quite like this roughed up sketch.

This weeks Badge Friday has been kindly sent to me by my friend and colleague Ceri Garner-Jones who recently uncovered several pin badges from her childhood.

Back in the 1980s , ventriloquist Keith Harris was always a popular attraction on television with his puppets Cuddles the monkey and Orville the green duck.

Keith and Orville even entered the top 40 record chart with Orville's Song and it seemed the sky was the limit for Keith and his duck. Except it wasn't, Orville couldn't fly so he stayed firmly at Keith's side.

Not that the audiences minded, Keith and Orville packed in lots of TV and theatre appearances. Ceri acquired this badge from Cardiff New Theatre in the 1980s where Keith and Orville were regular visitors including appearances in two pantomimes Robinson Crusoe (1980-81), Humpty Dumpty (1983-84) and The Keith Harris Show (1983).

30 years on Keith and Orville are still going strong - check out their website for further information.

Ian Lavender, Bill Pertwee and John Le Mesurierreunite for radio in It Sticks Out Half A Mile

In Episode 12 of It Sticks Out Half A Mile, the hunt is on to find somebody to pose for the "What The Butler Saw" machine. John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender and Bill Pertwee star in a programme originally aired on BBC Radio 2 in 1984.

It Sticks Out Half A Mile is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra at 17:00 Hrs and repeated again tomorrow morning at 05:00 Hrs. It is also available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

I was stumbling through Stumbleupon the other week (what else does one do on Stumbleupon) when I came across this pin for a 30 Day Drawing Challenge featured on Allison Lehman's Show and Tell Blog.

I've since seen a similarly titled motivator on Facebook, the premise is the same however.

I've been stuck in a real rut for ages with my drawing, I used to love sitting down and sketching. Sometimes I'd draw something and it would come out okay, other days I'd be way off mark. I used to draw quite frequently and even things like doodles and cartoons would come naturally.

The key thing is making time, and I frequently make 101 reasons why I don't have time. Well after several half hearted attempts I decided to take this 30 day challenge.

Now I have to confess, I started a week last Saturday, did a second drawing on the Sunday and didn't pick up my pencils again until last Saturday. I've now completed my sixth drawing.

I'm continuing on with the project as I'm actually starting to get into it now and I will shortly post my first sketch. They are all very loose, but they are meant to be.

If anyone else fancies having a go feel free to download the pin above. All credit to the original bloggers and thank you for the inspiration!

Monday, 5 March 2012

It's always sad to hear of the passing of favourite actors and I was particularly saddened today to hear of the death of Welsh actor Philip Madoc.

Born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1934, Philip had a lengthy career on stage, television, film and radio since the early 60s. Among his credits was King Lear, Last Of The Mohicans, The Life And Times Of David Lloyd George, A Mind To Kill, the Cadfael series on radio, several appearances in Doctor Who, Porridge and of course the U Boat Captain in Dad's Army.

Rachel and I had the good fortune to briefly meet Philip Madoc in 1998 when he attended a Dad's Army Appreciation Society event at the Oval Cricket Ground in London.

I particularly recall Philip been overjoyed at finding we had travelled all the way from Carmarthen in Wales to attend the event and chatting with Rachel for several minutes about Wales.

I next saw Philip Madoc at the recording session of Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army in 2008 and again a year later at Cardiff New Theatre when he performed his one man show Dylan Thomas and Friends - An Evening with Philip Madoc.

Promotional flyer for mid 90s S4Cfilm series starring Philip Madoc

The latter event was interesting as Philip began the evening reciting the opening moments of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. His deep Welsh voice resounded across the acoustics of Cardiff New Theatre and it was truly a moment to savour.

He recalled working alongside many great actors, his recent appearance at The Globe Theatre in Lear, his regret at losing out to Derek Jacobi at playing Cadfael on television and honour at been complimented by David Lloyd George's daughter on his likeness to her own papa whom he recreated for The Life and times of David Lloyd George in 1981.

Philip is of course forever associated with that classic Dad's Army "Don't Tell Him Pike" moment. The cameo U Boat Captain he played so well on TV and was invited back to recreate him for radio two years later. Every word he utters in German is perfect, while he steals the show from Arthur Lowe when he threatens to take down Mainwaring's name for insulting his glorious leader.

There are also Philip Madoc's wonderful Doctor Who roles. He plays a Dalek informant in the Peter Cushing 1966 movie Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD and two years later made his Doctor Who TV series debut in The Krotons the first of four roles in the series. For his finest Doctor Who moments check out his appearance as The War Chief in 1969's The War Games, a role he should really have been allowed to reprise and Solon in 1975's The Brain of Morbius.

More recently he lent his voice to the BBC Wales documentary series Welsh Greats. Quite aptly, Philip Madoc was a Welsh Great himself and he has left us with a fabulous collection of appearances to enjoy forever.

Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in 1934, Madoc became a popular actor on stage and screen playing a diverse range of roles from King Lear to David Lloyd George.

He played no less than four different roles in Doctor Who but undoubtedly one of his best remembered roles was his cameo appearance in the 1973 Dad's Army episode The Deadly Attachment as The U Boat Captain.

The memorable sequence when he makes a list regarding who will be brought to account when the Germans win the war went on to become one of the funniest moments in comedy history.

He recalled in 2009 at his one man stage performance An Evening With Philip Madoc at The New Theatre, Cardiff that he had gained recognition all around the world for his role in Dad's Army. "I suspect my tombstone will have the words "Don't Tell Him Pike" emblazoned on it" he said at the time.

Madoc recreated the role of The U Boat Captain for The Dad's Army radio series in 1975 and had appeared at several Dad's Army events in recent years.

Philip Madoc was always a wonderful presence on television, radio and stage he will be missed.

Catch the Dad’s Army movie on GOLD today between 10:10 hrs to 12:00 hrs and between 17:50 hrs to 19:40 hrs in which Local Bank Manager George Mainwaring responds to his country’s call and forms the Local Defence Volunteers in Walmington-On-Sea against would be Nazi invaders.

The film is also repeated on GOLD tomorrow between 17:10 hrs to 19:00 hrs